A Silver Lining on the Dark Side of the Moon (NEW)
by SwiftWhiteWolf
Summary: Remus Lupin has been fighting the darkness since it stole his parents and any hope of a normal life from him as a child. Severus Snape joined the darkness hoping it would make him stronger when the light of his life abandoned him. Loki Silverleaf was born to darkness, and has been trying to claw her way to the light ever since.
1. Prologue

**The Silver Lining on the Dark Side of the Moon (NEW) **

**Prologue**

_The cool night air was thick with the scent of blood that night, twenty one years ago. I remember that much. I recall it being cold enough that when I ran outside to play after dinner, my mother came out after me and scolded me for not wearing a coat. It was the last thing she said to me, right before a blast of green light hit her torso and she fell dead on the spot. I started screaming for her to get up as the black-cloaked figures with silver masks began emerging from the woods. My nine year old brain hadn`t yet comprehended that she was gone. One of those figures was laughing; my memory of that is all too clear. It was the most horrible sound I had ever heard in my life, and it still haunts me in my nightmares to this day. All those years ago I watched my beloved mother`s murder. My father sprinted out of the house without shoes on when I screamed. He shot spell after spell from his wand as he ran to reach me, to protect me. I saw with tears blurring my vision horrors that would scar me for the rest my life. Those cloaked figures- the Death Eaters as I later came to know them, weren`t even human. Well, more than that. They weren`t even wizards like my father, or non-magical folk, like my mother had been. These murderers weren`t human or animal, nor were they witch or muggle. This particular breed of evil is one with which I have become very familiar now. They were lycanthropes; people who were forced by some cursed magic in to the shape of a bloodthirsty animal during the nights of the full moon each month. They killed my mother, and as my father came to save; they changed in to the shapes of beasts and ripped him apart. They would have killed me too, had my dad not compelled me with his last breath to run and never look back. I was too scared to move; he used his last spell to force my feet to take action and flee, instead of defending himself from our attackers. I ran and hid, but they found me. Then the Aurors arrived, but they were too late. One of those monsters, their leader, who was a cross between a man and a wolf, had found me. He grabbed me and bit my shoulder; he almost snapped my collar bone in two as I was trying to run up the stairs to hide in the closet. One of the men my father had worked with; another Auror, hexed him from behind and got that monster off of me. I don`t remember much after that. Flashing lights, a lot of pain, yelling, and muttering. Darkness came after that. When I woke up I was in the hospital, my parents were gone, and I was completely alone. Oh, and they told me I was going to turn in to one of those creatures, like the one who had killed my parents and nearly eaten me alive. Twenty one years later to the day, and try as hard as I might to block the memories from my mind I still wake up crying in a cold sweat, with that hideous laughter ringing in my ears on this date. Every time the moon is full I become like the thing that destroyed my family when the sun sets. Every month I am reminded of the fact that now I too am one of the monsters, and each time I lose control of that animal within I hate myself more and more. _

–_Remus Lupin_


	2. Missing Persons

**The Silver Lining on the Dark Side of the Moon (NEW)**

**Chapter One: Missing Persons**

Professor Lupin could not believe what he had just heard. He was sitting in the kitchen of his best friend Sirius Black, at number twelve Grimmauld Place. Across the large, aged wooden table from them sat Severus Snape, Charlie, Molly, and Arthur Weasley, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. To Remus`s left Bill Weasley was seated, and to Sirius`s right sat Nymphadora Tonks. Other familiar faces of both friends and Aurors could be seen throughout the room. The visage Remus was currently addressing however, belonged to none other than Albus Dumbledore, who was seated directly across the table from him.

"You mean to tell me that Alastor Moody is missing? Wasn`t his last assignment a reconnaissance operation?" Remus inquired of the elder wizard. His tone was clearly shocked, and it matched most of the stunned expressions of the others gathered around the table. This was the first that any of them had heard of "Mad-Eye" Moody`s disappearance being confirmed. Only Dumbledore and a few select members of the Ministry of Magic knew about it so far, and now those gathered here knew as well. It was not Dumbledore, but Snape who spoke up;

"That is correct. He was sent to scout the target area near Wiltshire Township. There were reports of several ex-Death Eaters sighted in that area. The intelligence provided states that they appeared to be searching for something." His voice was as smooth as chocolate milk, but the manner in which he spoke was uneasy. He had already informed them that there had been increased activity among some of the old dogs of the dark sect, but what exactly they had been looking for hadn`t been revealed to him just yet.

"Or they were searching for someone." Kingsley suggested, his dark brow furrowed in puzzlement. The African American man was even more anxious than the others present here. He was an Auror himself, and had known Alastor Moody for a long time. Mad-Eye did not make mistakes, and he was never caught off guard. The fact that he had just uncharacteristically vanished in to thin air spelled dire trouble. Something else was bothering him though; Alastor hadn`t been alone. He had a partner, someone that even Moody thought he could trust. She was missing too. What bothered him about this most of all was that Moody`s partner was a double agent. _Supposedly,_ Shacklebolt thought. He didn`t know Loki Silverleaf very well. She was supposed to be on the Order`s side, but she had been a Death Eater herself for several years. He didn`t trust her.

Snape seemed to know exactly which lines Kingsley was thinking along, and answered the question before he asked it; "That could be true, but we can`t confirm anything at this point other than Moody is missing and so is Silverleaf. No one tipped off the Death Eaters to Mad-Eye`s presence to my knowledge. He wouldn`t have given himself away or been caught easily. Silverleaf hasn`t contacted any of the Death Eaters either. She isn`t behind this."

"How can you be certain, Severus? Perhaps it is just that she hasn`t contacted _you_. The fact that she is missing could mean that she _is_ behind this and that she has simply gone in to hiding." Kingsley suggested; his tone derisive and thick with suspicion. The potions master snapped back in an icy voice;

"I am _the first_ person Loki would contact! If she had been planning to double cross the Order I would have known about it immediately. She wouldn`t have acted this way of her own accord. I am telling you with all confidence that there is someone else involved in this. Loki would not have handed Moody over to anyone unless the pair of them had _planned_ on getting caught!" His thin face was even paler than usual with anger. He had known Loki for even longer than Shacklebolt had known Alastor, and she was the only person besides Dumbledore that he would utterly trust with his life.

Dumbledore himself had placed his trust in Loki, as he had with Severus. The others, especially Remus, seemed to be having a great deal of trouble accepting that she was on their side. Perhaps it was because Albus had kept her involvement with the Order of the Phoenix confidential from everyone else until just under two months ago. Most of them hadn`t even known that she existed before then, let alone that she was Fenrir Greyback`s daughter. They still needed time to adjust, and none of them but Severus, Remus, and Dumbledore had been formally introduced to Loki in person yet. Snape trusted her since he had known her for several years. He knew exactly what she thought of her murderous wretch of a father, the Dark Lord, and the other Death Eaters. She had been coerced in to joining their ranks because of her parentage. Ever since Fenrir had decided to take an interest in actually raising his daughter (by which he meant beating her in to submission, breaking her spirit, and brutally forcing her to undergo Death Eater training) she had been trying to fight free of him. Loki Silverleaf hated her father more than anything or anyone else. She had been trying to claw her way to the light since she was born. Like Severus; the woman hadn`t had a choice what she`d been born to. Severus knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that she wasn`t behind Moody`s disappearance. At the same time though, he hadn`t the faintest clue who was. He had been in favor of waiting to hear from one or the other of the two, but it had been three days now with nothing. A few hours could be the difference between life and death for an Auror, three days without any communication from either Mad-Eye or Silverleaf and it was driving them all crazy.

"The question that remains is, what do we do now?" Arthur Weasley piped up, voicing what was on everyone`s mind.

The group as a whole remained silent, and Dumbledore fixed everyone in turn with his pale blue gaze. He turned at last to Severus, a small frown crinkling his brow as if he doubted the other man`s complete honesty with him. His expression smoothed gradually, and then the Headmaster of Hogwarts simply looked as worried and drained as the rest of them felt. He sat back in his chair pinching the bridge of his thin nose in frustration.

"I do not know. Perhaps we-" Albus`s suggestion was abruptly cut short as Severus fell to the stone floor with a yell of pain, clutching his left arm.

"Snape! What`s happening?!" Shacklebolt had leapt up and was now crouching next to the professor as the other man writhed on the floor with his teeth clenched together to keep from crying out.

"She`s….alive…both of…them…captured! Kch!" Snape gasped, panting in short breaths as he tried to speak.

"How? Where are they? Who has them?" Kingsley was nearly shouting in Severus`s ear. Everyone else was on their feet watching, waiting, praying, that they would finally be able to take some sort of action. Snape breathed out, barely audible;

"Hunters…not sure…lift the wards!" His eyes were showing too much white; the pulse in his neck was pounding against his skin like a trapped animal trying to escape. His jaw length black hair lay in disarray splayed under his head. "Drop…wards!" He gasped one last time before slipping in to unconsciousness.

The room at large stood as if frozen in time for the span of a single heartbeat, before Dumbledore roared; "Drop the wards! Now!" And for just a moment, Grimmauld Place was completely unprotected, every ward was dropped. A bright flash lit the room for a moment, blinding everyone within with a neon green light. The far stone wall of the room exploded in that light, luckily the death curse didn`t hit any of the Order members. A burst of black smoke appeared next to Severus in the same instant, and began to coalesce as everyone`s vision cleared. The wards around Grimmauld Place snapped back up in less time than it took to blink.

The smoke converged inward, and then flew outwards to fill out the forms of two bodies. One was that of Alastor Moody, clearly unconscious and badly beaten, most of his visible skin was bruised and his good eye was swollen shut, but he was breathing. The other shape was that of a slender woman with caramel and black-streaked auburn hair that fell nearly to her waist. She had darkly tanned skin that was smeared liberally with blood in various stages of wetness. Her hair and clothes were caked with the stuff, and she was wearing nothing but a pair of half shredded jeans and the remnants of a black tank top. Every inch of her bare skin was either bruised, covered in blood, or showing new wounds and old scars. Her caramel colored eyes were slits, nearly swollen shut as she registered that her Smoke-Apparation technique had brought both herself and Alastor to safety. The woman collapsed to the stone floor, one arm pinned underneath Moody, who she had been half-carrying, half-dragging. The last thing Loki Silverleaf saw before she blacked out were the faces of Albus Dumbledore, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Remus Lupin looming over her, and Severus Snape where he lay unconscious next to her as the already hazy world darkened even further around the edges. Somehow, her free hand managed to find the potions master`s and she grasped that as the only solid thing to hang on to. Loki couldn`t see anything now, she was completely blind. A second later, she couldn`t feel anything either, as the shadows blissfully consumed her.


	3. Werewolf Politics

**The Silver Lining on the Dark Side of the Moon (NEW)**

**Chapter Two: **

_Ever since I was born, I have been trying to find a way to escape this place. This world I came in to is cold and desolate. For most of my life I`ve been alone, unable to count on anyone but myself. I was born to this darkness; it is as much a part of me as my blood or my bones, even my soul. But I didn`t choose this life; I never asked to be the daughter of a murderer, or to carry the curse of the werewolf in my veins. I don`t have a choice in those matters. I am who I am, and I can`t change what I am. But I can change what I stand for. I`m not a murderer like my father. I`m not a Death Eater like my mother. I will find a way to escape my birthright. It`s not like I have anything to lose, after all. _

–_Loki Silverleaf_

Loki Silverleaf winced quietly as her eyes opened for the first time in nearly three days. She lay in a soft, warm bed in a room that she didn`t recognize. Starlight filtered in dimly through a partially curtained window on the far side of the room. By this Loki noticed that the low chest of drawers next to the bed was covered in a wide assortment of vials, potions, jars, and tins of salves. She inhaled shallowly, and the pungent herbal scent of the remedies helped to soothe her raw nerves. Waking up in strange places was not something that Loki enjoyed, or something she made a habit of doing. The werewolf knew from the scents lingering in this place that it had been recently visited by the other members of the Order of the Phoenix. The strongest was that of professor Severus Snape, who she knew without question had been the one treating her injuries. Loki wondered how long she had been out for and how Alastor Moody was recovering, and if he was alright. By the time their captors had tired of torturing her and Loki had managed to break free of the chains they had tethered her with, she had been separated from Moody for hours. She had managed to find him quickly enough after her escape, but he had already been badly wounded as well and unconscious. By all appearances, Alastor had been the victim of the forbidden Cruciatus Curse. With the Hunters on her tail, she hadn`t had much chance to try to revive him, and would have surely succumbed to her own grievous injuries had she tried to fight them all off again. Silverleaf knew now that her mind was beginning to clear that she had been drugged by the Hunters, and assumed that she and her partner had been captured when the same fate had befallen him. The young woman tried to recall where they had been taken; any bit of a memory might be the clue to tracing their attackers. But it was all to no avail, for as soon as she attempted to focus her mind on the task a sudden searing pain made her head ache so badly she was nauseous. Someone had erased her memories using magic. The most Loki had been able to discern was that they had been taken somewhere underground. It had reeked of decay and mold, and the flickering light quality in her mental images told her that it had probably been lit by torches. Loki`s thoughts were interrupted when she heard murmuring out in the hallway past the closed wooden door. She recognized both voices; one was that of Remus Lupin, who practically cringed with dislike every time he saw her. The other voice belonged to that of the only person in the world Loki considered family.

Snape was getting impatient. He`d been trying to keep everyone out of Loki`s makeshift hospital room long enough for her to actually recover for the last two days straight, and it had proved no simple task. Alastor Moody still hadn`t awakened from his comatose state yet, and everyone wanted answers. They all seemed to think that the girl Snape had adopted as his sibling had the answers they were looking for. He was becoming increasingly irritated with the nearly constant stream of visitors asking to see Loki when she hadn`t even woken up yet. Remus Lupin was the sixth such caller in the last two hours. The other man seemed to be convinced that Silverleaf would have healed well enough by now from her extensive wounds to receive guests. Severus was strictly opposed to this; the last time he had checked on her a few hours ago she had still been in pretty rough shape, to say the least. Given, her lack of humanity and Severus`s fervent medical attentions had helped her recovery along a great deal, but Snape didn`t want Loki pushing herself too hard. He knew she would try to, too. As soon as the young woman woke up he was sure the first thing on her mind would be how he and Mad-Eye were doing, and then what their next course of action should be. Severus was well aware that she needed more time to recover; Loki was a werewolf, not a walking miracle. She could be killed just like the rest of them. Granted, she was harder to slay than most gave her credit for. But after seeing the extent of her injuries when he had regained consciousness, Severus was certain beyond the shadow of a doubt that Loki had come a hair`s breadth away from dying that night. The fact that his adopted sister was still breathing at all and had made it back to him was a godsend. The last thing Snape wanted for Loki was to have her put through the Spanish Inquisition while she was still trying to heal herself.

"Severus, speaking as a lycanthrope myself, I know how fast we heal. She should be well enough by now to be awake and coherent, and perfectly capable of telling us what happened."

"She almost died Lupin! It`s not like we can just slap a bandage on her forehead and call her fine again! How would you even know how much she`s recovered, when you didn`t even see the extent of her injuries? _I_ was the one who treated her!" Snape hissed back in low tones, his face pale with rage.

"I am well aware of the fact that she was almost killed. But Alastor is only getting worse! She may be able to tell us what happened to him, and her knowledge could be the difference between life and death for Mr. Moody. He may not have much longer left. Now please, move." Remus`s voice had dropped to a half growl. He took a brave step forward towards the door Snape was currently standing in front of. The younger man continued to glare at Remus and crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. He had treated Mad-Eye as well, and it was true that the other man still had not awoken from his coma yet, but neither had Loki to his knowledge. Everyone just acted like she would heal faster because she wasn`t human and Moody was. Between the two Aurors, it was likely that Loki would be the one to survive. Just the same, Snape obviously wasn't moving. He wouldn`t allow Remus to disturb her. Any kind of sudden shock at this point or large amount of stress would likely set her over the edge, and possibly cause her to either a.) lose control of her inner beast and change shape, or b.) cause her body to shut down completely, risking a permanent comatose state. Loki`s magical core had been almost completely exhausted. A witch or wizard`s magical core was like a candle tied directly to their life force. If the flame went out; the witch or wizard perished, just like the candle. Severus had managed to keep Loki`s ember going, but only just.

Professor Lupin in the mean time was becoming quite irritated himself, although he had hoped to not have to fight over this. He knew the risks to Silverleaf, probably understood them better than her wannabe hero defender Severus Snape. But when it came down to it, he still thought of her as a Death Eater, and a monster because she was, after all, a vicious werewolf just like her father. He didn`t trust her, and if he had to pick between her and Alastor, at this point he would have chosen Moody with little hesitation. Resigned to the fact that this wasn`t going to be a peaceful exchange between himself and the potions master, Lupin let a dangerous growl pass his handsome lips. His eyes changed from their normal dark blue hue to a shade resembling arctic ice, and he let the humanity drain from his face. He knew that Severus Snape was still afraid of him because of the time when Remus had almost bitten the other professor back when they had both been students at Hogwarts during a full moon. He would have felt guilty about using this trick against the potions prodigy, but people`s lives were at stake here. That was too important to Lupin to let Snape`s protectiveness of the other Death Eater stand in his way.

Severus flinched, one of his hands instinctively reaching for the wand at his side, but he was too slow. With blinding speed the werewolf casually pushed him aside and threw the door to the guest bedroom open. Remus`s jaw dropped after he stepped in to the room and he was momentarily speechless.

"Haven`t you ever heard of knocking?" Loki`s voice came out hoarsely, sounding as matter-of-fact as was possible while her throat was covered in multicolored bruises.

She was standing next to the bed with her back to him, wearing nothing but a pair of black jeans. At the moment, she was busy attempting to thread a matching belt through her belt loops and buckling it. Remus was too fixated staring at her naked, scar covered back to realize that she had spoken to him. Some of the marks on her back looked almost brand- new, a few still healing lacerations as opposed to thin white scars. One in particular disturbed Remus greatly; Loki had been branded while she and Moody were being held captive. That much was obvious from here. The burn was partially healed, but still blistered around the edges, with singed skin struggling to re-knit itself. The crescent moon with an ex crossing it clearly charred in to her flesh was painful to gaze at. What wasn`t burned, raw, or scarred on her back was bruised in a myriad of hues. Behind Remus, Severus had entered the room with his wand pointed steadily at the other man. When he saw Loki half dressed and standing next to the bed, as opposed to lying in it recovering, he swore colorfully.

"Well? Were you raised in a barn or what? Close the damn door so I can finish getting dressed before someone else walks by and sees this." Loki growled sharply, turning around to face them both. Her face was bruised too, and she had stitches and a butterfly bandage running across one cheek. The woman`s loosely curling caramel and black streaked auburn hair was plenty long enough to cover her breasts, but it couldn`t hide all the damage on her torso. As she snagged a loose-fitting black cotton tee shirt off the edge of the bed, Remus saw that she had several lacerations running up one side of her rib cage, and that part of her middle was wrapped tightly with bloodstained bandages, suggesting fractured ribs and open wounds. The fact that some of these wounds still looked fresh, and that many of them seemed to be burned around the edges meant that her attackers had used silver weapons and torture implements on her. There were other injuries too; mostly bruises that were half healed or better.

What struck Lupin was that everything he saw here had to have been at least twice as bad two days ago when Silverleaf had returned to them. Remus struggled to find something to say to answer her as Snape shut the door behind them using the hand that wasn`t pointing a wand at the older man. He managed a weak apology;

"I`m sorry, I didn`t know you were actually up and getting dressed. I`ll wait outside." The defense against the dark arts professor muttered, turning to find himself face to face with a silent and irate professor Snape.

"To hell with that, you`ve already seen the worst of it. Obviously you came here to find out what happened to Alastor. Severus, put that stick away. It won`t do you any good to defend my honor against someone who already believes that I don`t have any." Loki rasped; her throat very sore. She tugged the shirt on with one arm, holding the other close to her side as if it were still rather tender. Remus, still facing Snape, had closed his eyes. He blushed darkly at Loki`s comment and moved to half face her, stepping a little further away from Snape as he did so.

"This cur has no right to be in here, and you shouldn`t even be out of bed yet Loki! Look at yourself. Bloody hell, you were in a coma for two days!" Snape slowly lowered his wand and pocketed it as he spoke, glaring at Remus. His dark gaze showed clearly the anger and indignation he felt. Remus could not look either of them in the eyes as he felt is cheeks burn with shame, and so he stared at his sneaker-clad feet instead.

Loki went over towards the two men; her bare feet made almost no noise even though she was limping badly. She stopped a few feet away and looked directly at her brother. Her eyes were still caramel colored as she stared at him, which did not bode well.

"I appreciate your concern, Sev. But after what I just went through with the people that attacked us; the last thing I want to do is laze around in bed while they could be out their hunting and hurting others. I`m alive, and eventually I`ll be as good as new. But those others they had captive don`t have that luxury. They could be dead now, and those hunters are probably out taking more victims. I need to see what state Mad-Eye is in, and if I can help him or not." She held up her uninjured hand to stop the stream of protests Snape was about to unleash on her. The expression she gave him though probably did more to shut the man up. Loki continued as both men listened;

"I already know that you`ve done your best to help him. I can`t do any better than that with potions, you outclass me there a thousand fold. But I have wild magic that you, as a human, don`t. Don`t give me that look. You know I`m not holding it against you. I`m not sure if my abilities will work on Alastor or not, but I have a sneaking suspicion and I`d like to try."

Remus cleared his throat quietly, having been listening even if he wasn`t really included in the conversation. He thought he knew what Loki was referring to. He was almost afraid to ask, but he had to know. He`d seen the bite mark on Moody`s arm, only wereanimals did that kind of damage. "I saw the bite wound. That wasn`t you, was it?"

That warranted him a piercing gaze from Loki and a bloodless shocked stare from Snape. Lupin knew that he just kept making himself look like more and more of an ass, it wasn`t intentional, but at least he was being honest. Silverleaf didn`t look at all like she was happy about potentially being accused of mauling her partner (for obvious reasons), but she didn`t look like she was really angry with him either, or even hurt. He wasn`t sure what bothered him more; that she was calm because she was innocent, or that she was calm because maybe this had happened to her before. _Her father is Fenrir Greyback, after all._ The professor thought, the expression on his face hardening with stubbornness.

"No. We were ambushed by Hunters, I`m sure you`re familiar with them. The people that think they are better as human murderers than those of us who aren`t human and try to be at least halfway decent. I`ve never bitten anyone in my life, and I wouldn`t ever do it. That`s because I don`t wish this miserable hell on anyone, even my worst enemies. Some of the Hunters that attacked us were using werecreatures to sniff out other nonhuman beasties. When we were jumped, one of them tackled Alastor with fangs flashing. They shot me with some kind of thorn coated in a tranquilizer; I thought I had picked it up from our hike through the woods, and I was already going down when I noticed it. That`s why we stopped moving, so Alastor could figure out what was wrong with me. It was my fault we were taken by surprise; they must have been watching us the entire time. I only noticed that lycanthrope had bitten through Mad-Eye`s bracer when I found him in another cell half naked and had Sev summon us here." By the time she had explained a little more of what had happened, Snape had seemed to calm a little, and Remus was convinced that Loki hadn`t been the one to bite Alastor. Both men were visibly relieved, though for different reasons.

"Do you remember how many of them there were? I noticed the brand they gave you. That`s the seal of the Donackie-Macgregor Huntsmen`s Guild, formerly based out of Scotland. I had thought that they were wiped out a few years ago by those werewolves whose cubs they had stolen. You remember it in the papers, that massacre?" Remus inquired, his pale eyes sharp. His gaze hadn`t returned to its normal human hue either. Lupin had noticed that his own beast had a tendency to peak out whenever Silverleaf was around, it was one of the reasons why he was bothered by the woman; she made him feel like he was just on the edge of losing control.

"I`m not sure exactly, but I`d estimate about twenty human Hunters were there. That`s not counting all of the captives I saw, or the Hunters` pets and thralls. I couldn`t have taken them all even at my strongest, there were just too many." Loki`s expression hardened suddenly and her jaw clenched.

Remus noticed the muscles on the right side of her rib cage had seemed to squirm under her skin just then, and realized that the woman was clenching her jaw so that she didn`t cry out in pain. _What good does it do you to hide your pain? It`s already obvious that you`re hurt._ The male lycan watched Loki more closely now. It was common practice for dominant wolves (and werewolves for that matter) to avoid showing weakness at almost any cost. If they were hurt, they tried not to show it, because it could be seen by other wolves as a frailty to be exploited. If the less dominant wolves, or outsiders, spotted such an opportunity, they often used it to attack or even kill the injured one to gain a higher position in a pack hierarchy. Remus hadn`t really thought about it until just then, but the way Loki was acting made sense. She saw him as an outsider, and obviously she trusted him about as much as he trusted her, which is to say almost not at all. _She`s hurt, but even now she is trying to make herself look stronger because her instincts are telling her that I`m a threat. That`s why she told me to stay in the room then! If she had turned me away she thinks it would have made her look like she is even more vulnerable. That`s probably why she`s out of bed too, now that I consider it. She wanted to be found standing, on equal terms when she knew I was coming in. She must have known; must have smelled me or heard my voice. I seem to have challenged her by accident. Damn werewolf politics! Loki is playing the survival game, and by coming in here I`ve made myself an obstacle. She`ll likely see everything I do as a veiled threat now. _As much as he hated 'shapeshifter politics' as he referred to them, Lupin was surprised at how stubborn the Death Eater was; Remus found that Loki`s actions were slowly earning his respect. To be so badly injured and still have such a reserve of mental fortitude was not something many were gifted with. He didn`t like the woman, and he didn`t trust her. But at least he was beginning to believe that she was worthy of some form of respect, perhaps Loki did have some kind of honor after all. _Alright Silverleaf, we`ll play your game. Let`s test how far you`re willing to go to prove a point,_ he thought. Remus had been watching Loki`s face, and suddenly he found himself staring in to a pair of amber wolf eyes where her human ones should have been. The expression on her visage told Remus clearly that she knew that he had noticed her reaction, and that she knew what he had been thinking. By deliberately unclenching her jaw and relaxing her posture she was telling him that she was more than up for the challenge he was posing.

Snape spoke up then; "I would have killed you for trying to fight all of those Hunters even if you had survived." He grouched at his sister, watching the silent exchange between the other two Order members with a frustrated but resigned air. Severus couldn`t even really begin to fathom the depth of the animal instincts ingrained in the werewolf psyche. Since he didn`t anticipate that changing any time soon, he mostly ignored the posturing and waited for the metaphorical dogs to stop growling at each other. His comment drew Silverleaf`s attention, and she turned her primal stare on him.

"You can chide me later. If those Hunters really were members of the Donackie-Macgregor Guild then we have even more pressing matters than before. I need to see Moody and find out if I can wake him. I`m not sure if his memory will be any clearer than mine but it`s worth a try. We should pay him a visit now." The young woman told the room at large, moving past Remus towards Severus and the door. She purposefully gave the other werewolf her back; a false show of confidence that she wasn`t worried about him attacking her from behind. Snape regarded her with raised eyebrows as he opened the portal for them and stepped out of the way for everyone to move in to the narrow hallway. Loki paused for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the gas lantern light before gesturing for her brother to lead the way. Remus pointedly gave Loki his own back then, falling in to step behind the potions master to show the girl he wasn`t afraid of her attacking him either. Thus began what was sure to be a tedious and bizarre contest between the two lycans.


	4. Family Ties

**The Silver Lining on the Dark Side of the Moon (NEW)**

**Chapter Three: **

Remus, Loki, and Severus were walking quietly through the halls of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place on their way to the room Alastor Moody was recovering in when a terrible screech sounded from one of the pictures hanging on the wall. Severus had been leading the way, and he jumped about four inches at the noise. Remus, who had been right behind the other man, flinched visibly as well. Loki just blinked slowly as if she was used to the sound of screaming, and it didn`t really bother her. Searching for the source of the racket, Loki realized it was coming from a portrait of a bony, withered looking woman. Said picture had been covered with curtains, but these had flown open when Severus had walked past. He covered his ears to shut out the din of the woman`s enraged cries. Loki eyed the old hag with a vague expression of distaste and annoyance.

"FILTHY HALFBLOODS! LEAVE THIS PLACE! IMPURITY! THE DISGUSTING NERVE OF MUDBLOODS! AND YOU-" The ancient crone turned her serpent`s tongue away from Snape and Lupin now to squall at Loki, the old witch`s eyes were bulging and spittle flew from her mouth as she shrieked. "MY OWN FLESH AND BLOOD, FOR SHAME! TO BE SEEN IN THE PRESENCE OF SUCH FILTH! REMOVE THEM FROM MY HOME AS YOUR PENNANCE!" Lupin and Snape were both goggling at Silverleaf now. Loki saw the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor`s lips move but couldn`t hear what he was saying over Mrs. Black`s shrill cries.

"SILENCIO!" Sirius Black roared as he came storming down the corridor, having emerged from a closed door at the end of the hall that concealed a staircase. A bolt of blue light shot from the tip of the ash wood wand he was holding and struck the screaming portrait of his mother, cutting off further screams. Sirius promptly yanked the curtains he`d put in place over the picture frame closed once more, his breathing harsh with anger. He exhaled deeply to calm himself before turning to face the other three Order members.

"Sorry about that old hag. I haven`t been able to get her down; she put a Permanent Sticking Charm on the back of the canvas _and_ the frame while she was still alive." The middle aged man pinched the bridge of his somewhat crooked nose. Loki cocked her head slightly and regarded Sirius with curiosity.

"Who was that woman? And why did she call me her 'blood'?" Loki inquired of him, her tone sounded as bewildered as her expression appeared.

"She called you _what!?_" Sirius`s mouth was now hanging ajar with shock. Snape spoke up and explained quietly.

"Your mother`s portrait just called to Loki as her kin. She screamed 'My own blood, for shame! To be seen in the presence of such filth!' She must have been referring to Remus and I when she was screeching about half bloods. We each had a muggle mother. Loki`s parents are both magically inclined."

"So you`re a Pureblood?" Lupin and Black asked with surprise at the same time. They had both been under the impression that Loki was a mixed-blood product of rape. Silverleaf flinched visibly, spots of color appearing on her cheeks. She sounded disgusted when she told them;

"Yes. _Not that it matters._ Fenrir as you well know is a wizard in addition to being a werewolf. He told me that my mother was a witch too, but he didn`t ever say who she was and I never asked. I don`t even know what she looks like since she left me with that sadistic bastard after I was born. She _abandoned_ me. I don`t give a sparkling fairy fart who she is." The young woman informed them in a low voice. Severus was nodding as he stood next to her; he had heard the story before. Loki had once asked him that if he happened to find out who her mother was that he never tell her, and not to pursue the subject in the future.

"So your mom was a Pureblood witch too. And now Sirius`s mother`s painting called you blood. There aren`t that many Pureblood families left in this area. The would stand to reason that maybe somehow you are related to the Blacks by way of your mother." Remus was thinking out loud. The idea was a possibility to consider anyways. Sirius contributed his opinion in a neutral tone;

"That wouldn`t be much of a stretch. There were plenty of Death Eaters in my family, as can be said of most of the Pureblooded clans remaining today. I suppose it would make sense for some of them to pair up with each other and have kids." The shaggy, dark haired man scratched his chin as he regarded Loki with a curious expression.

There was a brief, charged pause while the group considered the thought. The Black family had been one of the largest Pureblood clans for centuries. They were either related by blood or by marriage to most of the other clans already. The Blacks were well known in the magical Underworld for producing many a Death Eater for Voldemort`s ranks. Perhaps then Loki`s mother, a Death Eater herself, had also been a Black by birth? Loki pondered this for a moment with the knowledge that the portrait had titled her 'blood' not just a 'relation'. Logic said then that Loki shared blood with Sirius as well, though probably she was an illegitimate member of his family tree. But her mother had to have been evil, so it didn`t matter who she was. She had been of questionable mental stability to mate with Fenrir Greyback in the first place, but to then carry that child to term and later abandon it to the werewolf`s not-so-tender care was perfectly insane. Anger bubbled inside Silverleaf as the painful memories of her childhood threatened to resurface, coloring her scent with the aroma of burnt cedar wood. She brushed a fleck of invisible dust off the shoulder of her tee shirt.

"How cheerful. That might matter a bit more if she had actually stuck around to raise me. If we`re finished here, I need to see Moody and figure out if I can help him." Sirius seemed a bit taken off guard by Loki`s reaction and her lack of curiosity. He supposed he couldn`t blame her though. As she brushed past him, Padfoot raised his eyebrows at his old childhood friend, who shrugged in reply. It was as if he was saying _'What? I don`t know her that well. Just because we both have lycanthropy doesn`t mean I can read her mind.'_ Sirius gave Remus the ghost of a smile as if to make fun of the younger man _'Maybe you`d like to know her that well?'_ He waggled his still raised eyebrows and Severus scoffed at the two of them, walking past to catch up with Loki who had been tracking Mad Eye`s scent towards his room. Remus rolled his eyes at Black in an exasperated manner.

"Even if I did, I wouldn`t now since she`s related to a slime ball like you." The D.A.D.A. professor chuckled quietly to his friend. He couldn`t believe how ridiculous Sirius was sometimes. Their mental conversation had been entirely inappropriate for the time; but Remus just couldn`t help but to laugh at Sirius`s absurdity. If Loki and Black actually were related, it was even more amusing to imagine that Padfoot was trying to set Moony up with his cousin, or second cousin, or whatever they were to each other. The two trailed behind Severus and Loki, and Remus whispered in a more thoughtful tone;

"It seems like a touchy subject, and I can see why but a part of me still wonders if her attitude towards this might change in time. Do you plan on asking her about it?"

"About what, being related? Sure, maybe after Moody gets better. She`s too focused on her partner right now to worry about it though. It seems like it doesn`t really matter to her even if we are related." Sirius whispered back with a frown. He quickly glanced up ahead to make sure that Snape and Silverleaf weren`t listening in.

"I get that. But at the same time, if you two are related, you and Tonks are her family."

"So…what then? Are you expecting me to ask her if she wants to live her in this hole in the future?" Padfoot snorted at the concept. "We might be family, and I say 'might'. That`s fine, but I doubt she likes me very much, and I know her about as well as you do. Who says she even wants to be part of a screwed up family like ours anyways? S`not like she doesn`t already have a home, right?"

"I didn`t mean that, not really. But maybe you and Tonks and her should all sit down and have a talk about it. If you`ve got a family, shouldn`t you try to stick together?" Remus inquired in a very soft voice, he knew how sensitive a werewolf`s hearing really was.

"Aww Moony! I`m sorry mate. I know your parents are gone and the rest of them won`t talk to you on account of your being a werewolf, but I`m still here! We, you and I are still brothers, right? It`s not the same without James around but we still have each other`s backs. Bloody hell." Sirius threw an arm around Remus`s shoulder companionably.

"I didn`t really mean it like that. Well, I sort of did. Whatever." Remus shoved off Black`s arm with another roll of his eyes. The other man ribbed him with his elbow a moment later as they were climbing a flight of stairs.

"Hey. Don`t tell me you`re worried about her?" He asked in a joking tone. Remus shot him a glare fit to scare off an angry hippogriff.

"No, I`m not. Like I said; I don`t even know her. Besides, she`s got old Snape to look out for her." He eyed the woman and the potions master up ahead of them. Severus had just offered to help Loki up the stairs, but with a backwards glance at Remus she had declined with a bewildered expression. Her anger seemed to have evaporated as fast as it had come.

"Sounds like someone`s a little jealous…" The animagus taunted his friend in another whisper to lighten the mood.

"Am not." Remus growled back, and crossed his muscled arms over his broad chest.

"You know I can hear everything you`re saying right?" Loki called back over her shoulder as they turned a corner and entered another long carpeted hallway just ahead of the former Marauders. Lupin`s face went red; it could have rivaled a strawberry.

"Good! Then you know I`m not jealous of your buddy hanging all over you then!" He retorted stubbornly, and Sirius lost it and began laughing his ass off. Severus stopped dead in his tracks and did that slow horror movie-like turn to glare daggers at both of them. Remus promptly looked away and punched Padfoot hard in the arm. "This is entirely your fault." He snarled in an irritated tone. The other pain winced, still chuckling but began to settle down.

"For the record, you imbeciles; I do not 'hang all over' my _sister._ Get your tiny, childish minds out of the gutter!" Severus told them angrily before sweeping off down the hall to unlock the door to Moody`s room. Loki just shook her head at their squabble and followed Snape over to where he was waiting by Moody`s door. When Severus knocked there was no answer, and he proceeded to enter, motioning for Loki to follow him after a moment.


End file.
